Mother Teresa
Dear Friends,
Some years ago I had the privilege of meeting Mother Teresa and her Sisters of Charity in Calcutta - the time I spent with them had a deep impact both in my thinking and my inner being. I heard many stories from the nuns - many hugely amusing ones - the nuns have a great sense of humour amidst the pain and poverty they encounter in their ministry.
We returned from Australia yesterday and it reminded me of when Mother Teresa visited Australia. A new novice to a monastery was assigned to be her guide and driver. The young monk was so thrilled and excited at the prospect of being so close to this godly woman. He dreamed of how much he would learn from her and what they would talk about. But during her visit, he became frustrated. Although he was constantly near her, Mother Teresa was constantly meeting people.
Finally, her tour was over, and she was due to fly out to New Guinea. In desperation, the novice monk had his opportunity to speak to Mother Teresa. He said to her, “If I pay my own fare to New Guinea, can I sit next to you on the plane so I can talk to you and learn from you?” Mother Teresa looked at him. “You have enough money to pay airfare to New Guinea?” she asked. “Oh, yes,” he replied eagerly. “Then give that money to the poor,” she said. “You’ll learn more from that, than anything I can tell you.”
The young man wanted to experience a feeling, but what he needed was to simply learn by doing. And by doing, he would transform his thinking, and by transforming his thinking, he would experience an inward change that would go deep into his inner being.
And that’s what God wants from us. He wants us changed deep into our inner being. He wants us not to feel our way through the Christian life fluttering back and forth between Christ and the world. He wants us to offer our entire selves as living sacrifices – sold out and on fire for God through and through.
Agapé,
J.John
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